Monday, July 23, 2007

God Bless Eternally Minded Friends

This is the week, and tomorrow (or Wednesday) is the day when my wife will give birth for the third time. It is a pretty momentous occasion. One of my friends (who also has the privilege of raising three little children) jested, “Now you have to go from man-to-man defense to zone coverage.” When he said that for the first time, I laughed out loud, but I still chuckle every time that I think of it or repeat it.

If all goes according to plan, starting tomorrow I will be off work for a week or two enjoying the company of my family and getting to know my newest member. And because I am in a fairly jovial mood and getting excited about all of the great things that happen when a baby is born, I sent the following message to a friend, co-worker, and brother-in-Christ.

In order to honor my last day as a father of two, I'm gonna let you buy me chipotle Thanks, Dan!!!!

Was I jesting with my presumption of being bought lunch today? Yes. Would I have refused or objected if Dan were to bring me this delicious lunch? Not a chance. However, instead of responding in kind with a joke, he responded with the following,
That day ended long ago, you became a father of four at the conception of your daughter. We can celebrate that though!!

Talk about being caught off guard. Wow. My wife and I have been blessed with the privilege to raise two boys and, Lord willing, a girl too. But in between our two boys, we lost a child. That experience of losing a child before birth is traumatic and, as a parent, you never forget. The problem is that much of the rest of the world, including your circle of friends and family, tend to forget about it completely, or push the thought so far back in their mind that it doesn’t even register anymore. They almost need to be reminded with a painful statement like, “You remember that we had a miscarriage…right?”

Anyway, let me just say that I was blessed by this reminder that, yes, I am a father of four. I have three here and one waiting for us with Christ. My hope and dream is that all of my children will one day be with Christ along with Stephanie and me. However God sees fit and chooses to do that, no matter the earthly circumstances, I will exult in the Lord…even if it is with tears.

Thanks, Dan, for your encouragement in truth that you boldly and unapologetically offered in grace and love.

To God alone be the glory in the salvation of sinners.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So don't leave us hanging...did Dan buy lunch? :)

EJ said...

Nope...got the shaft.

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